The invention relates to safety guard structures for skylights. More specifically, the invention relates to skylight fall protection safety panels that would be installed under the surface of skylights laminated to the underside or cast within the glazing, in the roofs of buildings.
Skylights come in various shapes and sizes including flat, corrugated plastic domed, pyramid or continuous vaulted skylights. The majority of installed skylights are on the relatively flat roofs of schools, warehouses and manufacturing plants. Skylights on relatively flat roofs present a hazard during building construction, roof repair and maintenance on mechanical units that are installed on the roof of the building. Every year, fatal falls result from failure to provide adequate guarding and fall protection around skylights. Persons on the roof may stumble, back on to, sit, or attempt of sit on the skylight, resulting in the person falling through the skylight. Skylights are not designed to support the weight of a person. Thus a safety guard or railing is required to prevent persons from breaking the skylight and falling through the opening.
It is well known in the art that one means for protecting against a person inadvertently falling through a skylight is to install a wire mesh or screen that has been welded together above a flat skylight to prevent a person falling through the skylight. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,223,530 and 1,236,008 disclose wire mesh positioned a short distance above a flat glass skylight and folded over the skylight frame. Wire mesh is stretched across the skylight and attached to lugs mounted on vertical faces of the skylight frame. The Sandow U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,090 shows another example of a skylight guard assembly. The Sandow U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,788 discloses a skylight guard assembly for a dome shaped skylight.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has recognized the dangers posed by skylights and has promulgated requirements for a standard skylight screen. However there has been a reluctance by owners of buildings to retro-fit existing skylights with skylight safety guard assemblies because of the additional cost and also the unsightly appearance of these welded grid structures.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel skylight fall protection safety panel made from a single sheet of metal having apertures punched out of its central area and that central area would be positioned under a skylight panel, laminated to the underside or cast within the glazing.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel skylight fall protection safety panel having a sufficient number of apertures of a sufficient size that over 50 percent of its surface area would transmit light therethrough and also having the size of the apertures small enough that a person can not put their foot though the apertures.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel skylight fall protection panel that could be made corrugated so that it would mate with the corrugated structure of a skylight panel allowing it to rest directly on the bottom surface of the skylight panel, laminated to the underside or cast within the glazing.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel method of making a skylight fall protection safety panel from a single sheet of perforated or expanded metal.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel skylight fall protection safety panel that would prevent workers that step on the top of the skylight structure from falling therethrough and injuring themselves.